Hair roller



Jan. 14, 1969 w, OWENS ET AL 3,421,523

HAIR ROLLER Filed Oct. 18, 1965 Sheet of 2 r l I I III/[///// l l X l6 FlG. l

W/LLMA/v L. OWENS ROBERT STEPHEN owe/vs .INVENTORS ATTORNEYS Jan. 14, 1969 w. OWENS ET AL HAIR ROLLER Sheet Filed Oct. 18, 1965 [I II I FIG.4

WILL/WAN L OWE/VS ROBERT STEPHEN OWENS INVENTORS um, may" ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An inner cylinder is slidably disposed within an outer cylinder for movement between a retracted and a projected position. A spring-biased clip pivotally mounted adjacent one end of the innner cylinder includes an elongated Strip extending alOng the outer side of the inner cylinder, the strip being located during storage of the device in the annular space between the inner wall of the outer cylinder and the outer wall of the inner cylinder. In use, hair is rolled around the outer cylinder, followed by withdrawal of the inner cylinder, opening of the clip, returning the inner cylinder to inner location with the strip overlying the rolled hair and releasing the clip to allow the strip to bias into hair confining position.

The invention relates to devices on which hair, ordinarily moist, is rolled, confined and allowed to dry so as to impart to the hair, after removal of the devices, a temporary curl.

The patent literature, as well as the market place, is replete with hair rollers of many varieties. In the main, these devices have accomplished their intended end result in a satisfactory manner.

However, the devices heretofore available have suffered from a number of disadvantages, particularly with respect to the manner in which they have had to be used.

Perhaps the most vexatious problem heretofore faced by the user is that of requiring, ready at hand, a very considerable number of bobby pins, or comparable hair confining members. Each roller ordinarily requires the installation of at least two short or one long bobby pin, and, where many rollers are used, the repeated steps of rolling the hair on the roller, holding the roller with one hand, reaching out with the other hand to a nearby tray full of bobby pins, selecting one, opening it with one hand and inserting it over the roller into hair confining relation becomes tiresome and time consuming. From time to time the tray is inevitably overturned and the bob-by pins :are strewn on the floor. The pins are also readily lost so that a new stock must periodically be purchased.

Of even more concern is the fact that bobby pins, particularly long ones, upon being installed on, or removed from, the roller, often break many strands of hair. Frequently, the use of such pins also leaves an undesirable impression or indentation upon the tightly confined hair which is unattractive after the rollers are removed.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a hair roller which serves as a self-contained, complete unit, thus eliminating the necessity of having a separate supply of bobby pins or other types of clips.

It is another object of the invention to provide a hair rol er which securely retains the hair rolled thereon, and which remains in position even when the hair is dry, and even when the rollers are slept on.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a hair roller which is devoid of projecting elements when the hair is rolled on the roller and the clip is placed in position.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a hair "ice roller which can be operated in a smooth sequence and at a speed which is much more rapid than is possible with rollers of the types heretofore used.

It is yet a further object of the invention to provide a hair roller which neither breaks strands of hair nor causes unattractive indentations on the hair as it dries.

It is an additional object of the invention to provide a generally improved hair roller.

Other objects, together with the foregoing, are attained in the embodiment described in the following description and shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a median, longitudinal sectional view showing the inner cylinder and the clip disposed entirely within the outer cylinder, preparatory for use in rolling hair on the outer cylinder;

FIGURE 2 is an end elevational view of the righthand end of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view showing the inner cylinder and clip in projected position relative to the outer cylinder;

FIGURE 4 is a median, longitudinal, sectional view showing the inner cylinder in retracted location and with the clip in hair confining position; and

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the FIGURE 4 arrangement, but with the clip in a slightly different angular position.

While the hair roller of the invention is susceptible of numerous physical embodiments depending on the environment and requirements of use, substantial numbers of the herein shown and described embodiment have been made, tested and used, and all have performed in an eminently satisfactory manner.

The hair roller of the invention, generally designated by the reference numeral 12, comprises an outer, hollow, circular cylinder 13, or tube, formed with a plurality of apertures 14 therein for the circulation of air to facilitate the drying of hair 15 (see FIGURES 4 and 5) wound or rolled on the outer cylinder 13 in customary fashion.

One end (the left-hand end in FIGURES 1-5) of the outer cylinder 13 is formed at the time of manufacture with an inwardly projecting annular flange 16 affording an annular shoulder 17.

The annular shoulder 17 serves as a limit stop to the left-hand direction of movement of an inner, cylindrical framework member 21 translatably disposed within the outer cylinder 13 and being also freely rotatable therein about the common longitudinal axis of the outer cylinder 13 and the inner cylinder 21.

As appears most clearly in FIGURE 3, the inner cylinder 21 is preferably not a fully tubular member, but instead comprises an open cylindrical framework including a plurality of rings 22, 23a and 23b held in longitudinally spaced relation by a plurality of longitudinal cylindrical elements 24a, 24b and 240, or stringers. The open frameworks arrangement not only eflFects saving of material and weight, but also helps to facilitate the free circulation of air inside the outer cylinder and through the apertures 14 for enhancing drying of the rolled hair.

Whereas the annular shoulder 17 limits the left-hand movement of the inner cylinder 21 as it is urged into the fully retracted position shown most clearly in FIGURES l and 4 (by reason of the abutment between the shoulder 17 and an outwardly extending flange 25 on the left-hand annular ring 22), the movement of the inner cylinder in a right hand direction, into the projected position shown in FIGURE 3, is limited by a shoulder 26 afforded by an inwardly extending annular flange 27 located on the right-hand end of the outer cylinder 13.

In other words, the flange 25 on left hand ring 22 on the inner cylinder is large enough in diameter to abut against, or interfere with, the shoulder 26 on the annular flange 27, whereas the rings 23!: and 23b, being smaller in diameter, do not so engage the flange 27. In this manner the extent of translational movement of the inner cylinder is limited to the fully retracted and fully projected locations shown most clearly in FIGURES 1 and 3, respectively.

It will be apparent that in assembling the device, the annular flange 27 is added subsequent to the insertion of the inner cylinder into the outer cylinder. That is to say, in assembly, the inner cylinder 21 is urged into fully retracted position, with flange 25 on the ring 22 abutting the lefthand shoulder 17 prior to forming the flange 27. Then, the right hand end of the outer cylinder is spun or rolled inwardly, under appropriate heat and pressure conditions to form the flange 27. As an alternative construction, the member 27 could be an annular ring mounted on the inner, right-hand end of the outer cylinder by a suitable adhesive, the ring projecting inwardly far enough to interfere with the flange 25 on the ring 22 on the inner cylinder as the inner cylinder is moved into fully projected position.

Whereas the outer cylinder serves as a form upon which the hair is rolled, the translatable and rotatable inner cylinder serves, in the main, as a support for a hair confining clip 31.

The clip, preferably of a thin but strong metallic material, is pivotally mounted on the inner cylinder adjacent the right hand end thereof. In the form of device herein, the clip includes an elongated strip 32 extending along an element of the inner cylinder and, more particularly along and in face to face engagement with the stringer 240 (see FIGURE 3). The strip extends substantially the full length of the cylinder, thus serving to confine all the hair normally wound on the outer cylinder (see FIGURE At the right hand end of the clip, the strip 32 is recurved, as at 33, thence projects angularly inwardly to afford a thumb press portion 34.

The portion 34 is pivotally mounted on a cross-pin 36 spanning a pair of brackets 37 secured to the inner wall of the inner cylinder. A suitable spring member 38 wound on the pin 36 and having its ends bearing against the bottom of the thumb press 34 and the inner wall of the inner cylinder (see FIGURE 4) serves to urge the strip portion 32 of the clip 31 inwardly with sufiicient force securely to confine the hair interposed between the clip and the outer cylinder.

For normal storage of the hair rollers, the arrangement of the components is as shown in FIGURE 1, with the thin strip portion 32 of the clip in close face to face engagement with the stringer 240, the clearance between the cylinders being sutficient to accommodate the strip thickness without any interference or binding. It will be noted that since there are no exterior projections, each roller can readily be removed for use without catching on nearby rollers.

In operation, a roller in the normal storage arrangement shown in FIGURE 1 is selected. A portion of hair (ordinarily somewhat moistened) is then laid with the ends of the strands upon the periphery of the outer cylinder and the roller is rotated in conventional fashion. Winding is continued until the roller reaches the scalp. At this juncture, the inside cylinder is withdrawn from the outside cylinder by engaging the inside cylinder with the fingers or the thumb and sliding the inside cylinder into the projected position shown in FIGURE 3, or far enough so that the distal end of the clip clears the outside cylinder.

The tab portion 34 is thereupon depressed so as to open the clip by swinging the strip 32 angularly away from the subjacent stringer 24c. Concurrently, while holding the clip in open position, the inner cylinder is rotated so that the clip is adjacent the scalp, and is moved into retracted position within the outer cylinder. At about the same instant, the finger or thumb press tab 34 is released, at which time the clip is urged inwardly by the spring so that the clip engages and confines that portion of the hair interposed between the clip and the outer periphery of the outside cylinder (see FIGURE 4).

It will be realized that while the foregoing description of the sequence of events takes a number of seconds to read, that the actual operation can be performed in perhaps four to five seconds at most, from the time the roller is first touched to the time the operation is completed and the next roller is reached for.

It can therefore be seen that we have provided a roller which is not only economical in the sense that it is inexpensive to buy, but which also eliminates the need for continually purchasing a new supply of bobby pins; further, the use of the device saves time (a factor of especial importance in beauty salons), and is safe and effective in that it substantially eliminates any hair indentation and breakage while securely holding the hair in the desired position.

We claim:

1. A hair roller comprising:

(a) an outer cylinder having a predetermined inner diameter and an outer surface, said outer cylinder being capable of receiving hair rolled thereon;

(b) an inner cylinder having a predetermined outer diameter less than said predetermined inner diameter to form an annular spacing between said outer cylinder and said inner cylinder, said inner cylinder being translatably movable from a first, retracted position within said outer cylinder, thence away from said outer cylinder to a second, projected position with said inner cylinder protruding substantially from said outer cylinder, and thence back to said first, retracted position; and

(c) a spring-biased clip member mounted on said inner cylinder adjacent one end thereof, said clip member including an elongated strip extending along the outer surface of said inner cylinder for substantially the entire length thereof, said strip being angularly movable between a first position in face to face engagement with said outer surface of said inner cylinder and disposed entirely within said annular spacing in said retracted position of said inner cylinder so as to achieve of said outer surface of said outer cylinder, a smooth uninterrupted surface, and a second position in angular relation with respect to said inner cylinder in said projected position of said inner cylinder and a third position overlying said outer cylinder in said retracted position of said inner cylinder, said strip being capable in said third position of confining hair interposed between said strip and said outer cylinder.

2. A hair roller as in claim 1 including means for limiting the extent of translational movement of said inner cylinder between said projected position and said retracted position.

3. A hair roller as in claim 1 wherein said inner cylinder is coaxially rotatable relative to said outer cylinder.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,030,969 4/1962 Epstein.

3,092,118 6/1963 Otto et al 132-40 3,126,896 3/1964 Lehn et al. 132.4l 3,335,734 8/1967 Kackloudis 132-40 3,215,149 11/1965 Weinberg 13240 3,221,753 12/1965 Zielinski 1324O LOUIS G. MANCENE, Primary Examiner. G. E. MCNEILL, Assistant Examiner. 

